The locked post on the top of this page needs to be updated regarding costs to study at a Finnish university.

First of all, there is no tuition for studying in FInland.

There are finances available to pay for your housing:

1. Grant money. Go to the international center at the university and ask what grants you can get. Go to the department head and ask what grants you can get. The international center and the department have different grants. If you get into the IMMIT program (master's in management of IT), you are elgible for an Erasmus grant. Other masters programs may also be eligible.

2. Student loan. Every resident in FInland is entitled to a student loan to help pay for studying expenses. If you study outside of Finland, you must be married to a Finn or be the child of a Finn to qualify.

3. KELA oppintukki (student grant). KELA pays 300 - 400 euros a month for students at the university or post-graduate levels. If you are a member of a Finnish family (husband, wife, or child), you can also get the grant for studying overseas, which pays approximately double the rate (700 - 800 euros a month)

4. If you study and have travel expenses and you work for a company, you can deduct some of your studying costs. If you don't work for a company where studying is not work-related, you can't deduct any costs.

5. Finnish universities are not very helpful when it comes to applying for foreign scholarships, such as a Fulbright or other comprehensive scholarship. For that, you will have to Google or contact a unversity in the country you came from. Scholarships can pay a lot - a couple of the students in my master's cohort got 10,000 euro scholarships every year they studied.

6. Some master's programs offer scholarships - for example, IMMIT (School of Eceonomics at Turku University). My scholarship paid half of my tuition fees for the first year (IMMIT is not one of the free programs)

7. Work-study is a program where you get a job while you go to school. Most of the jobs are at the university or nearby. Your academic advisor can help you find a job.

8. If you are independent and you pay rent, you may qualify for a housing allowance. This is paid IN ADDITION TO your KELA study grant.

9. You are eligible for a bus pass, which entitles you to a 50% discount anywhere in Finland. The bus pass is good for one year and it can be renewed. All you need is a paper from the university after you enroll as a student.

10. Save money by borrowing books from the library or buying used copies from Amazon. Many of the books are avaiaible in .pdf formates, which the students pass around to each other. If I had to pay for all my textbooks from the university bookstore, I could not have afforded it.

The Cost of Studying in Finland

martimasters wrote:First of all, there is no tuition for studying in FInland.

There is. This mainly concerns non EU students with student permits.

martimasters wrote:
2. Student loan. Every resident in FInland is entitled to a student loan to help pay for studying expenses. If you study outside of Finland, you must be married to a Finn or be the child of a Finn to qualify.

Not true. Even for Finnish citizens it's not guaranteed. The state only provides a guaranteed but banks are not required to give a loan. The guarantee is not available for those on student residence permits.

martimasters wrote:
4. If you study and have travel expenses and you work for a company, you can deduct some of your studying costs. If you don't work for a company where studying is not work-related, you can't deduct any costs.

yes, there is if you're from outside the EU, and it ranges from 10.000 fo the cheapest schools to 15.000 for the most expensive

Grant money. Go to the international center at the university and ask what grants you can get. Go to the department head and ask what grants you can get. The international center and the department have different grants. If you get into the IMMIT program (master's in management of IT), you are elgible for an Erasmus grant. Other masters programs may also be eligible.

if you are doing erasmus, then you can get erasmus grant from your home university. Not from Finland. Grants for international students are given in the form of not having to pay the fees

Student loan. Every resident in FInland is entitled to a student loan to help pay for studying expenses. If you study outside of Finland, you must be married to a Finn or be the child of a Finn to qualify.

no, this is just false. You need to apply to kela for opintotuki and they decide wether you have the right to both opintotuki AND loan.

KELA oppintukki (student grant). KELA pays 300 - 400 euros a month for students at the university or post-graduate levels. If you are a member of a Finnish family (husband, wife, or child), you can also get the grant for studying overseas, which pays approximately double the rate (700 - 800 euros a month)

1) it's called OPINTOTUKI 2) opintotuki is max 250€/mo + asumistuki, normally around 400€ (depends from your earnings and your living expenses. Also one qualifies for opintotuki ONLY if one has come to Finland for reasons other than studying and can prove it.

Finnish universities are not very helpful when it comes to applying for foreign scholarships, such as a Fulbright or other comprehensive scholarship. For that, you will have to Google or contact a unversity in the country you came from.

no !"#¤%, I mean, why would they do it? Since when it should be the university filling your paperwork? come on.